1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air cleaner for removing air pollutants by a water spray type of dust collecting system, and more particularly, to an air cleaner for removing dust, gases and all kinds of noxious materials dispersed in the external air to supply a fresh air within a room.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As well known, there are developed a large number of air cleaners, most of which use a filter. However, such type of air cleaners can remove foreign materials such as dust, but fail to completely remove air pollutants having extreme fine particles such as noxious gases, heavy metals gases and so on. Therefore, an advanced type of air cleaner employs a plasma generator for burning the air pollutants or an electron beam generator
In addition, there are several kinds of air cleaners for removing noxious gases by the application of a water spray method. A most recently developed method is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2000-42338 (Feb. 15, 2000), entitled xe2x80x9cAir cleaning method and apparatusxe2x80x9d, which has the same basic construction as existing water spray systems. As shown in FIG. 4, the prior art air cleaner comprises a filter 102 installed in the one side of the interior of an air duct 101, one side spray type of spraying nozzles 103 installed in the center thereof, a plurality of collision plates 104 arranged in a zigzag manner on the opposite part to the spraying nozzles 103, for colliding against the sprayed water to thereby distribute the collided water in a fine water particle state, a water collecting tank 105 installed on the bottom surface of the lower side at which the water drops fall, for re-spraying the stored water to the spraying nozzle 103 via a pump 106 and a cooler 107, and a cooling coil 108 and a blowing fan 109 each installed on the discharge side.
As mentioned, the prior art air cleaner has a general water spray type of dust collector composed of the water spray recycle system, the blowing fan, the filter and the cooling coil, but exhibits a novel function of colliding the water sprayed from the spraying nozzles 103 against the colliding plates 104 installed in the zigzag manner to thereby disperse the colliding water. However, the colliding plates 104 cut the flowing path of air in the zigzag manner, resulting in the hindrance of the smooth air flowing due to a high resistance of air. Furthermore, due to the occurrence of a chemical variation caused by the destruction of molecules, when the air, which has been cleaned, is measured, the pollutants are detected over a reference value.
To solve this problem, therefore, the prior art air cleaner should have a high pressure of spray system for the water collision and a large capacity fan for a forced blowing, which causes a problem that the maintenance cost is expensive. Also, in case of a general air cleaning, there should be a need to install an additional chemical filter, which cause some problems that the construction thereof is substantially complicated and the maintenance thereof is not easy.
It is, accordingly, an object of the invention to provide an air cleaner for removing air pollutants by a water spray type of dust collecting system which is capable of separating a dust collecting part and an air and water separating part in the interior of a duct through which air is passed, wherein the dust collecting part is comprised of opposing water spray type primary and secondary dust collectors by water spraying and a space dust collector by water spraying installed between the primary and secondary dust collectors by water spraying, such that the surface tension of the water by the three-step air and water contact causes the dust and gases in the air to be absorbed and dissolved, resulting in settling of the absorbed and dissolved dust and gases, thereby making the polluted air substantially clean, and the air and water separating part being formed in a groove-engaged type, passes the humid air after the air cleaning in the dust collecting part and confronts the water particles onto the groove-engaged wall surface, resulting in the separation of the air and the water particles, whereby the air cleaner can ensure that air flows smoothly with a small capacity blowing fan because of a low resistance of air. The maintenance cost is considerably reduced because a high spray pressure of water is not required, and an optimal air cleaning system which is familiar with the environment is embodied because a natural state is maintained without having any chemical or artificial change.
To accomplish this and other objects of the present invention, there is provided an air cleaner for removing air pollutants by a water spray type of dust collecting system which has a filter in the interior of a duct type of body for primarily filtering external air, a pump and a nozzle for absorbing and dissolving the flowing air with a sprayed water therefrom to thereby settle the absorbed and dissolved results and clean the polluted air, and a blowing fan for forcedly blowing the cleaned air. The air cleaner comprises: a dust collecting part and an air and water separating part in the interior of the body, the dust collecting part comprising primary and secondary dust collectors by water spraying, each of which having a plurality of spraying nozzles layeredly arranged by predetermined intervals to be opposed at an angle of 30xc2x0 from the top to bottom thereof, and a space dust collector by water spraying disposed in a space between the primary and secondary dust collectors by water spraying, such that the three-step air and water contact causes foreign materials such as dust, gases and so on to be absorbed, dissolved and settled, and the air and water separating part formed of a groove-engaged type and layeredly curved by a six-step folding at an angle of 90xc2x0 in consideration of air resistance, for passing only the air flowing from the dust collecting part and collecting water drops.